Defying Gravity, June 30, 2009

I’m through accepting limits
‘Cuz someone says they’re so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I’ll never know!

It’s time to try
Defying gravity…

—Defying Gravity from Wicked

Altering the weight of my world…

Today I walked on my legs for thirty minutes in the most normal unrestricted gait for the first time in seventeen years of paralysis! No, I didn’t even use my leg braces. Imagine being a NASA astronaut suspended in a pressure regulated device that defies gravity. Today was my third day on the Aspen Club & Spa’s newest toy, the Alter-G, an anti-gravity treadmill. With the help of my trainer, Mark Alderdice, and my friend Zander, I threaded my legs into a pair of customized neoprene compression shorts and wormed my way into the machine. Mark zipped the skirt-like extension at my waist to the ballooned frame and I wiggled my legs into position.

“Okay Amanda, put all your weight on the treadmill and keep as still as possible.”

Mark touched the computer screen while it calibrated my body weight. From a crouched position I rose to standing as the bubble inflated. Digital numbers clicked by 20, 30, 40, 50, 60…Within seconds I was almost weightless and completely vertical standing tall on my own two legs…without leg braces!

“Are you ready for the treadmill Amanda?” asked Mark

“Yes, go for it. I’m ready. I won’t know ‘til I try. Now let me FLY!”

“We’ll start really slowly. We can increase the speed in one percent increments.”

Before I knew it I was walking!

It’s been so long. It’s almost too long to remember. Something has changed within me. I feel tingles. My legs are alive. They’re moving. Blood pumps through my veins. I feel light yet I’m supported. I’m almost weightless but I can walk! I’m defying gravity. I’m defying the odds. I would never have imagined it possible—especially two years ago prior to my first embryonic stem cell injection. I couldn’t move anything below my hips for fifteen and a half years. My body is still awakening. I am walking! It’s happening. It’s possible.

Words can’t even describe my sensation of standing tall in my five foot seven frame on my own two legs while walking in a true heel-toe-bend-knee-swing-forward motion. As I marched onward consciously focusing on planting one foot in front of the other, I stretched my memory back to when I was a teenager recalling the days when my legs ached after ballet or running hard. Today my legs ached…and they are still aching and tingling as I sit at my computer this afternoon. I have longed to feel my leg muscles ache since that fateful ski accident that rendered me a paraplegic seventeen years ago.

While the idea of unweighting isn’t new, the Alter-G is apparently the first company (www.alter-g.com) to use a pressurized bubble that provides a counterforce to a person’s bodyweight, reducing the effective weight on the treadmill surface. In essence, the machine gave me unrestricted mobility to maintain my normal body position and a somewhat normal gait.

“What do I look like Mark? Normal?”

“Well…n-o-r-m-a-l…like you’ve had a few drinks!” We laughed. “But you’re getting there.”

Actually, Mark and Zander were amazed at my newfound ability to move my trace muscles in this weightless device. Through the gift of the Aspen Club & Spa I will have the opportunity to use the Alter-G machine twice a week incorporating it into my therapeutic regimen. Thank you Michael Fox and thank you Mark (and Zander too). I am grateful beyond words. Today, you brought me to tears once again—sobering tears that remind me that I can be beautiful in my tallness and that with a little determination and help from my friends I can achieve the impossible.

So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
“Ev’ryone deserves the chance to fly!”

And if I’m flying solo
At least I’m flying free
To those who’d ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I’m flying high
Defying gravity
And soon I’ll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!

—Defying Gravity from Wicked

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I have been following your story the last few months. My sister told me about you. Her name is Detha Mika her son is Jonathan Mika.
My husband has transviresmylities. 3yrs now.
so this gives us lots of hope.He is doing good with rehab right now. will be watching your webpage.
Beth Thomas
Fyffe Alabama

Amanda-
This is such fantastic news!! You are so incredibly inspiring. A friend’s son was in an accident just 5 days ago and is now a paraplegic. I have told them about incredible you and will be sharing your website/blog with them. You give so many HOPE!
Look forward to seeing you when I return to CO.
Sandy

I guess when it happens to you, a family member or friend you begin researching on SCI injuries. My son, 20 yrs of age acquired a SCI through a motor bike accident 4 weeks ago – severing his T3. Your website has been encouraging and has enforced my belief there is always hope – and through researching SCI and coming across your website, it makes you feel empowered to accept whats happened, and the only way is forward.

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My History, My Story

On February 27, 1992 at the age of 24 I sustained a complete spinal cord injury at T11/12 (that is, no feeling or sensation at thoracic vertebra 11 & 12). I am able to recall the accident vividly in my mind's eye to this very day. I was downhill skiing. Everything happened in slow motion. A freak somersault and in a split second I shattered four vertebrae. It was as though somebody turned off a light switch. An electric current zapped through my legs and in an instant there was nothing.

15 1/2 Years with No Changes…

I have always been an active woman. For 15 1/2 years I sort out various alternative healing therapies yet I showed no improvement. Early on I tried standing tall in leg braces, but my efforts proved fruitless, plus I had a couple of horrible falls. Sitting simply became more functional. In August 2000 I was the recipient of the Vocare Bladder Implant, which helped me void my bladder using electrical stimulation. For 15 1/2 years I kept my legs supple and alive with various alternative healing therapies, yet I showed no improvement. I was paralyzed with no sensation or movement from the top of my pubic bone down. While I arrived at a place of acceptance with my paralysis, I have always had an uncanny insight that one magical day my legs would support me. Secretly, I never gave up hope.

HOPE Restored!

While my spinal cord injury took away my ability to walk, it didn't take away my ability to dream. TODAY I am turning my dream into my reality one baby step at a time.
On June 25, 2007 I was the first US Citizen to undergo Human Embryonic Stem Cell (hESC) Therapy with Dr. Geeta Shroff in Delhi, India.
During my initial two month visit, I not only witnessed astounding improvements in my own body, but with many patients who have life restored within their bodies and a newfound reason to not give up but LIVE!

New Sensations, New Muscle Power–I Am Defying the Odds!

I am compelled to share my experiences with the world. Since my first stem cell treatment in 2007, and after 15 1/2 years of being in a wheelchair I now have increased sensation with light touch and with deep sensation tingling all the way to my toes; my bladder and bowels are beginning to function again; and I have increased muscle power in my legs including gluteal muscles, quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors and abductors, and a flicker in my calf muscles too. Hope is now a part of my vocabulary!